The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized the technical contributions of special effects to movies at its inaugural dinner in 1929, presenting a plaque for "Best Engineering Effects" to the first Best Picture Oscar winner, the World War I flying drama Wings. Producer David O. Selznick production head at RKO Studios, petitioned the Academy Board of Governors to recognize the work of animator Willis O'Brien for his groundbreaking work on 1933's King Kong, it was not until 1938 when a film was recognized for its effects work, when a "Special Achievement Award for Special Effects" was given to the Paramount film Spawn of the North. The following year, "Best Special Effects" became a recognized category, although on occasion the Academy has chosen to honor a single film outright rather than nominate two or more films. From 1939 to 1963, it was an award for a film's visual effects as well as audio effects, so it was given to two persons, although some years only one or the other type of effect was recognized.

In 1964, it was given only for visual effects, the following year the name of the category was changed to "Best Special Visual Effects". Honorees for this award have been bestowed several times as a Special Achievement Academy Award. In 1977, the category was given its current name "Best Visual Effects." For decades, shortlisted finalists were selected by a steering committee. They are presently chosen by the visual effects branch executive committee. 1990 was the last year. Back to the Future Part III, Dick Tracy and Total Recall advanced to a second stage of voting, but only Total Recall received a requisite average and it was given a special achievement Oscar. To date, there have been three wholly animated films nominated in this category: The Nightmare Before Christmas in 1993, Kubo and the Two Strings in 2016, The Lion King in 2019. There has been one semi-animated film nominated, which won: Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988. There are three nominated films. In 1979, there were five films nominated.

Sometimes, no award is given. Other times, a single film is given the award outright. In 2007, it was decided that a list of no more than 15 eligible films would be chosen, from which a maximum of seven would be shortlisted for further consideration. A vote would proceed, with a maximum of three nominees. Since 2010, there are ten shortlisted finalists which, using a form of range voting, produce five nominees. No more than four people may be nominated for a single film. According to the official Academy Award rules, the criteria are: consideration of the contribution the visual effects make to the overall production and the artistry and fidelity with which the visual illusions are achieved. A number of filmmakers have had their movies honored for their achievements in visual effects. Stanley Kubrick's only Oscar win was for 1968's 2001: A Space Odyssey; the film's credits list four effects contributors, including Douglas Trumbull. However, according to the rules of the Academy in effect at the time, only three persons could be nominated for their work on a single film, which would have resulted in the omission of either Trumbull, Tom Howard, Con Pederson or Wally Veevers.

It was Kubrick's name, submitted as a nominee in this category, resulting in his winning the award, which many consider a slight to the four men whose work contributed to the film's success. The table below display the Oscar nominees for Best Engineering Effects; the tables below display the Oscar nominees for Best Special Effects including the recipients of the Special Achievement Awards. The tables below display the Oscar nominees for Best Visual Effects including the recipients of the Special Achievement Awards. BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Visual Effects Saturn Award for Best Special Effects For this Academy Award category, the following superlatives emerge: Most awards: Dennis Muren – 8 awards Most nominations: Dennis Muren – 15 nominations

Sergey Alexandrovich Kovalev is a Russian professional boxer. He has held multiple light heavyweight world championships, including the WBA and IBF titles from 2014 to 2016, the WBO title three times between 2013 and 2019; as of November 2019, Kovalev is ranked as the world's second best active light heavyweight by The Ring magazine, third by BoxRec and fourth by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board. In 2014, The Ring named him their Fighter of the Year. Nicknamed the "Krusher", Kovalev is known for his exceptional punching power, although he designates himself as "just a regular boxer." During his childhood years Kovalev played ice hockey until somebody stole his equipment from the dressing room, as his parents could not afford a new one, he began trying other sports, several month after he finished with hockey, he stopped his choice on boxing. Apart from that he practiced amateur wrestling. Kovalev started boxing in 1994 at age 11, made his amateur debut in 1997 in the Russian Boxing Junior Championship, where he won the gold medal in the middleweight juniors division.

One year he competed with the seniors and reached the final, a year after that, he won the final fight. For Team Russia, he competed in the European Championships. In 2004, Kovalev for the first time took part in the Russian Senior Championship, in his first season, he reached the final and won the golden medal in the team event; the next year was the most successful in his career as an amateur in winning two titles: the first as champion of Russia and the second as champion among servicemen. In the 2006 championship for servicemen, he won the silver, a year he took bronze in the Russian Championship and gold in the World Military Games in India. In 2008, Kovalev again made the final; as he once admitted, he had to leave the national team because of the tense competition between him and more successful boxers such as Artur Beterbiev. He finished his amateur career with a record of 195–18. 2000 Russian Junior Championships silver medalist at light welterweight 2001 Russian Junior Championships silver medalist at middleweight 2004 Russian Championships silver medalist at middleweight, losing to Matt Korobov 2005 Russian Championships gold medalist at middleweight 2005 World Military Championships gold medalist at light heavyweight, in Pretoria, South Africa 2006 World Military Championships silver medalist at light heavyweight, in Warendorf, Germany 2007 World Military Championships gold medalist at light heavyweight, in Hyderabad, India 2007 Russian Championships bronze medalist at light heavyweight, losing to Artur Beterbiev 2008 Russian Championships silver medalist at light heavyweight Kovalev started his career with a first-round KO of Daniel Chavez at Greenboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.

He won his first nine fights with first- or second-round knockout. He faced more serious competition against Darnell Boone in October 2010, when he had to fight all eight rounds, was dropped en route to a split decision win. In July 2011, Kovalev won his first NABA belt in a 10-round fight with Douglas Otieno from Kenya; the Russian's next bout against Grover Young was controversial, however, as in the second round, Kovalev threw a left hook to the head, but the judges suggested that it was a blow to the back of the head -– an unintentional infringement. As the American could not continue, the fight was declared a technical draw. In his 2011 fight against Roman Simakov of Russia, Kovalev knocked down his opponent in the sixth round and the fight was stopped one round and Kovalev was awarded a TKO victory. Simakov died three days later. In 2012, Kovalev begun being trained by John David Jackson, he knocked out Darnell Boone in two rounds in a rematch, demonstrating his improvement as a fighter since their last meeting and leading him to be signed to Main Events boxing.

On 19 January 2013, Kovalev faced the former WBA light heavyweight champion Gabriel Campillo. Kovalev was able to get to the elusive Campillo early and continually backing him up in the opening round with furious combinations. Campillo, known as a slow starter who looked sluggish throughout the fight, was hurt early in the third round and staggered into the corner; the native of Spain covered up before being dropped with a left hook from Kovalev, one of three knockdowns in the round. On 17 August 2013 Kovalev fought Nathan Cleverly for the WBO light heavyweight title. Cleverly, as champion, was given the underdog status by bookmakers; the official press conference took place on 9 July. Kovalev, who knocked out most of his opponents within three rounds, came out throwing heavy shots in the first round, hurt Cleverly badly in the third round, dropping him twice and nearly finishing him off. Kovalev picked things right back up in the fourth, throwing bombs to send Cleverly down for a third time and the referee waved things off.

This was the first time. On 30 November 2013, Kovalev had his first defense of the WBO light heavyweight title against #15 WBO Ismayl Sillakh; the fight took place on the undercard of Adonis Stevenson's WBC title defence against Brit Tony Bellew at the Colisee de Quebec in Quebec City, Canada. Kovalev found the timing early in round two and in the same round finished Sillakh with a huge left. Sillakh beat the count. Kovalev pounced on Sillakh, flooring him a second time, ending the fight; the fight averaged 1.25 million viewers on HBO. Main Events announced on 11 February 2014, that Koval

Hohenwerfen Castle is a medieval rock castle, situated on a 623-metre precipice overlooking the Austrian market town of Werfen in the Salzach valley 40 kilometres south of Salzburg. The fortress is surrounded by the adjacent Tennen Mountains. Hohenwerfen is a "sister" of Hohensalzburg Fortress, both built by the Archbishops of Salzburg in the 11th century; the fortification was built between 1075 and 1078 at the behest of Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg during the Imperial Investiture Controversy, meant as a strategic bulwark atop a 155-metre high rock. Gebhard, an ally of Pope Gregory VII and the anti-king Rudolf of Rheinfelden, had three major castles extended to secure the route across the Eastern Alps along the Salzach river against the forces of King Henry IV of Germany: Hohenwerfen and Petersberg Castle at Friesach in Carinthia. King Henry had Gebhard expelled in 1077 and the archbishop could not return to Salzburg until 1086, only to die at Hohenwerfen two years later. In the following centuries Hohenwerfen served Salzburg's rulers, the prince-archbishops, not only as a military base but as a residence and hunting retreat.

The fortress was extended in the 12th century and to a lesser extent again in the 16th century during the German Peasants' War, when in 1525 and 1526 riotous farmers and miners from the south of Salzburg moved towards the city, laying fire and damaging the castle. Alternatively it was used as a state prison and therefore had a somewhat sinister reputation, its prison walls have witnessed the tragic fate of many'criminals' who spent their days there – maybe their last – under inhumane conditions, periodically, various ranked noblemen have been imprisoned there including rulers such as Archbishop Adalbert III, arrested by his own ministeriales in 1198. In 1931 the fortress, owned by Archduke Eugen of Austria since 1898, was again damaged by a fire and, though restored had to be sold to the Salzburg Reichsgau administration in 1938. After World War II it was used as a training camp by the Austrian Gendarmerie until 1987; the bastion functions as a museum. Among the numerous attractions offered by the fortress are guided tours showing its extensive weapons collection, the historical Salzburg Falconry with the falconry museum as well as a fortress tavern.

The historic Falconry Centre is a special attraction, offering daily flight demonstrations using various birds of prey, including eagles, falcons and vultures. The castle belonged to the Habsburg family of Austria; the estate is now owned by the state of Salzburg. In the 1968 cinema film Where Eagles Dare the castle featured as the fictional Schloß Adler, raided by an Anglo-American S. O. E. and O. S. S. Paratroop team during World War II; the castle was used as a location for the movie Just Married with Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy in 2003, where it served as a French hotel. In the season three premiere of the television show Angel, the castle exterior doubled as a monastery located in Sri Lanka; the lead character retreated there to grieve after learning of the death of Buffy Summers. Some parts of the fantasy miniseries The 10th Kingdom were shot at the castle complex, it served as a haunted castle in the episode "The Legend of Das Geisterschloss" in the U. S. TV series Scarecrow and Mrs. King.

In the Amazon Video original series The Man in the High Castle the castle was used as the Führer's headquarters. The castle can be seen in the background of the "Do-Re-Mi" picnic scene in The Sound of Music starring Julie Andrews, filmed on a hillside showing the village of Werfen. In the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops III, the zombies map "Der Eisendrache" is based on'Hohenwerfen Castle'. In the 1987 UK Children's series "T. Bag Bounces Back", a scenic painted backdrop featured the castle. Although the castle was never referred to by name, the setting and internal scenes were fictional, it served as home to some of the main characters in the series. Official website History of Hohenwerfen Castle